Last Minute Deal Saves St. Vinnie’s Redevelopment

March 15, 2012

Developer Rudin Management agrees to cut number of condos to 350 as plans to redevelop the defunct hospital’s Greenwich Village site win final approval. A school, park and $100 million emergency-care center are coming, too.

After two years of wrangling and compromises on both sides, the future of the site of the defunct St. Vincent’s Hospital campus in Greenwich Village was finally settled on Wednesday. Developer Bill Rudin, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council agreed on a revised plan that includes the construction of 350 luxury condos—down from 450 previously—plus a school, a park and a $100 million emergency-care center.

Since the hospital closed in the spring of 2010, many residents and council members had voiced opposition to the plan to replace it with luxury housing—including one high-rise—and a far smaller health care facility. Under the final agreement, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System will operate a 24-hour comprehensive health care center, and Rudin Management Co. will build fewer housing units than originally planned. The city, meanwhile, will buy a nearby building from the state and turn it into a middle school.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who represents the district, had been among those opposed to the original proposal. In the end, however, she voiced her support for the newest scaled-down iteration.

“While we continue to advocate for a full-service hospital, I welcome the outstanding emergency, primary and specialty health care services that this project will bring,” Ms. Quinn said in a press release.

One of the most vociferous groups opposing the plan was a group of residents called The Coalition for a New Village Hospital. Prior to the vote, they launched one more appeal to the council, saying in an email: “It seems the proposed urgent care center is being imposed upon the community in spite of considerable opposition.”